In fabric softening executions disclosed in the art, smectite clays have often been used in combination with other ingredients, such as conventional rinse-added fabric softening actives. Illustrative of this art are:
GB-A-1 519 605, disclosing fabric softening compositions containing mixtures of smectite clays and water-insoluble quaternary ammonium compounds;
U.S. Pat. No. 4,292,835 describing solid fabric softening compositions containing smectite clay complexed with an anionic surfactant, and fabric softening amines or salts thereof;
EP-A-0 004 111 describing fabric-care compositions consisting of aqueous dispersion of a smectite-clay and a gelatinized vegetable starch.
It is well recognized in the detergent industry that clays of the type disclosed above can provide significant fabric softening benefits. Yet, it is equally well recognized that deposition of these clays onto the fabrics during the laundering process is far from complete. Moreover, the softening effect obtained as a result of the clay deposition is affected by factors that are not well understood.
It has now been found that a narrowly defined class of hectorite clays, not disclosed per se in the above-referred state of the art, surprisingly provides excellent fabric-softening benefits.
It is an object of the present invention to provide granular and liquid fabric conditioning compositions that can be added to the laundry during a rinse and/or wash stage of the laundry process comprising a fabric softening clay from which the clay is more efficiently deposited onto fabrics during the laundry process. It is further object of this invention to select clay materials for use in conditioning compositions that provide a significantly better fabric-softening performance, based upon a constant amount of clay utilized, than the clay materials used to date in commercial fabric conditioning compositions.